Graph of the Day: Projected Decline in Length of Growing Period in the Global Tropics, 2050

Areas that will experience more than a 5% reduction in length of growing period (LGP). LGP is defined by the average number of growing days per year, in which a growing day is one in which the average air temperature is greater than 6°C and the ratio of actual to potential evapo-transpiration exceeds 0.35 (Jones […]

Climate change exacerbates scarcity in food insecure regions

By Grant Potter and Graham Salinger3 March 2012 A recent report by The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), offers new insight into the threat that climate change poses to the livelihood of millions of farmers worldwide. The report, Mapping Hotspots of Climate Change and Food Insecurity in the Global Tropics [pdf], maps areas […]

Millions of Pakistan flood victims still at risk – U.N. issues desperate plea for $440 million

16 February 2012 (presstv) – Millions of Pakistanis are still at serious risk of malnutrition and disease due to a weak international response to the country’s second major flooding crisis in two years. The Pakistan Humanitarian Forum (PHF) said Thursday that at least 2.5 million people in the flood-hit country are still suffering from the […]

Mild drought brought down Maya civilization: study

23 February 2012 (AFP) – The collapse of the Mayan civilization was likely due to a relatively mild drought, much like the drier conditions expected in the coming years due to climate change, scientists said Thursday. Scholars have long believed that a major drought caused severe dry conditions that killed off the ancient culture known […]

Weather forecasters: East Africa should be prepared for further food insecurity

By Katy Migiro; Editing by Rebekah Curtis13 February 2012 NAIROBI (AlertNet) – East Africa, still battling a hunger crisis, should be prepared for another dry spell and further food insecurity due to the persistence of La Niña weather conditions that last year brought severe drought to the region, weather forecasters have warned. “La Niña conditions […]

10 million face drought in the Sahel – ‘The cycles are getting closer together’

NIAMEY, Niger, 28 January 2012 (UPI) – An estimated 10 million people across Africa’s arid Sahel region are feeling the effects of drought, humanitarian agencies say. A survey by the U.N. Children’s Fund estimated there will be 1 million cases of severe malnutrition caused by the drought, with between 25 percent and 60 percent of […]

The nexus of climate change and war – ‘We don’t want to be the generation that catches the final curtain on civilization’

By Randolph T. Holhut, American Reporter Correspondent11 February 2012 DUMMERSTON, Vermont – There is virtually no doubt that global warming exists. Aside from a few cranks and those heavily invested in the fossil fuel industry, the scientific consensus is that the Earth’s climate is changing, and changing faster than ever before. What happens when the […]

‘Most severe drought Mexico has ever faced’ leaves two million people without access to water, devastates cropland in nearly half of the country

By KARLA ZABLUDOVSKY30 January 2012 MEXICO CITY – A drought that a government official called the most severe Mexico had ever faced has left two million people without access to water and, coupled with a cold snap, has devastated cropland in nearly half of the country. The government in the past week has authorized $2.63 […]

Food waste denounced by ministers as almost 1 billion people go hungry

By Rudy Ruitenberg23 January 2012 Food waste was denounced by farm ministers and policy makers gathered in Berlin as almost 1 billion people in developing countries go hungry. Consumers in rich countries dispose of 220 million metric tons of food waste every year, equal to the entire food output of sub-Saharan Africa, Jose Graziano da […]

Feeding the world gets short shrift in climate change debate

By Nancy Shute20 January 2012 Food is getting elbowed out of the discussion on climate change, which could spell disaster for the 1 billion people who will be added to the world’s population in the next 15 years. That’s the word today from scientists wondering why food and sustainability get such short shrift when it […]

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